Building Recovery Programs That Actually Work | With Brian Tierney, Executive Director of Curawest

In this episode of Brainwaves by Opus, we sit down with Brian Tierney, Executive Director of Cura West in Denver, part of the Guardian Recovery Network.

Brian shares his journey from property management into addiction treatment, driven by his own long-term recovery and a desire to help others. Over the past decade, he’s worked his way up from entry-level roles to leading one of Colorado’s top detox and residential treatment centers.

At Cura West, Brian helped transform the program from a struggling startup into a high-performing, expanding facility, improving staff culture, patient satisfaction, and financial stability along the way.

Topics we cover:

• Transitioning into addiction treatment and overcoming financial fear

• Why working in recovery is not the same as personal recovery

• The value of starting in entry-level roles before leadership

• Building leadership teams that collaborate instead of operating in silos

• How staff experience directly impacts patient outcomes

• Turning around KPIs across staff retention, patient satisfaction, and finances

• Scaling responsibly from detox to residential and virtual IOP

• Why sustainable growth starts with stabilizing culture and care

Learn more:

• Cura West: https://curawest.com

• Guardian Recovery Network: https://grncare.com